Hello to all my friends in the Basketball Spotlight Community.
This week had its ups and downs as it can be for anyone. I got to visit St. Peters Prep High School which had a good brotherhood feel and also suffered my first loss of the football season. These are examples of mixed emotions that occur during a teenage life in 8th grade. I’ll be posting my school visits since it’s happening during my entries for BballSpotlight.
Let's begin with my weekly journey.
Monday, I woke up 6am and began with my routine of yoga. It was nice and early before eating my healthy breakfast. I then got ready for school and headed out to the door. My school is only ten minutes away so I’m lucky but I give respect to those that take that one-hour drive to school and get after it every day. I’m excited for school this week especially after how successful last week was. After school my dad picked me up and took me to work on my jump shot with local trainer Kent Culuko from @iybasketball "But can you shoot?" as he would say. I must say my shot was looking good after the session. Reps are the most important part of anything you do. The more you do it and stick with it; it’ll just become something that’s a part of you. I’m learning more and more with certain parts of my game. After the session I got home and worked out a little bit with my little sister Skyla. I had her show me what she’s been learning from her workouts, she is really impressing me. She is beginning to enjoy these moments more and more. Finally, my dad and I had video session with my football team to go over our next opponent Franklin Lakes.
Tuesday, I woke up nice and early at 6:30. I was able to do some meditation in my room before getting ready for school and eating some fresh homemade pancakes. School was good especially math today. Solving these math problems get harder and more challenging but I’m always up for it. Workouts today at school were intense from shooting stations to dribbling stations and we got at it today for sure. Afterschool I got home and soaked in a much-needed Epson salt bath, this might be my new weekly ritual. It was so relaxing and got me ready for football practice that night. Finally, I got home and settled in. I continued reading my assigned book from school (Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the collision of race and sports in the south) before taking it down and going to bed.
Wednesday, I got up at 6:00 am and began my morning with stretching and yoga. I ate breakfast and got ready for school. I had a good body training day at school. I got good stretches incorporated with body conditioning. We needed that to get us through the week especially since we are continuously doing specific trainings that involve a lot of movements. Afterschool I got home and took my little sister out for some hoops and she was able to ride her scooter for a little bit. I then went inside and got ready for football practice. After practice was over, I got home and settled in before going to bed. It felt like such a long day.
Thursday, I woke up at 6:00 am and did some morning yoga and ate a breakfast to get ready for school. School went well but mainly today I worked extra hard on stretching. I felt like I had a knot on my hip that kept shifting up and down (yikes). Today we met a former NBA player that has three sons, two in college and one in high school in NJ. He came to explain the process we might be running into as young middle school prospects and how it will exist with high school experiences. That was a great meeting today I have to say. I didn’t have practice planned today after school, so my mom took me to the doctor’s office for a checkup and to get my physical forms filled out. After practice I got home, settled in and continued to finish reading my summer reading assignment for school which actually helped me relax and get ready for bed.
Friday, 6:30 my alarm went off I did some morning meditation before eating some cereal and getting ready for school. Today was a little short because my mom and dad came early to pick me. We scheduled a tour at St. Peters Prep High School with some of the coaches and staff. It was a great tour and we got to see the neighborhood and location in Jersey City. We had a great visit which we were able to see the football team pre game ritual before their match up against DePaul. I also got to see an open workout with the basketball team which had college coaches in attendance. That was really cool to see. We left there in time to beat a little bit of traffic for my scheduled walk through with my football team. After practice I went out with my family for a nice family dinner and some much-needed family time.
Saturday was Game Day and I started off with a well-rested morning. I got up and got ready for an afternoon workout with NJ SCHOLARS 2026. Our workout was really good, we even had a couple of new faces in the gym which made the workouts more intense. When the workouts were finished, I got home and put on some highlight reels to get me pumped up for my game as usual. We arrived at 6:45 for our home game for our pre-game warmups. Game time was set for 8pm. Today’s game didn’t end as planned but we learned a lesson we will carry going forward week to week. It doesn’t matter how good you are or might be but what does matter is the fight you have within you which makes it more possible to come out on top. We will bounce back for sure. The game ended with a 30-20 loss. I had 4 receptions for 100 plus yards including a TD but wish it was in the winning column. After the game I went home, settled in and was just eager to get to Monday’s film session. I want to see what happened but until then I need a good night’s rest.
Sunday began with a great breakfast high in protein. I got a sneak peek video as to the errors we had in the game. They were minor things to adjust. I’m looking forward to seeing that team again, that’s all I’m going to say about that. I had a lazy day today, I watched some NFL games with my dad until 4pm before heading over to Peak Sports Academy in Mountainside, NJ to watch some high school fall basketball games. The best game I got to see was Bergen Catholic vs Gil St. Bernard “WOW” I’ll leave it at that. I’m glad I went today to Peak I was able to meet and socialize with my friends which share the same ambitions. After the games we drove back home, I touched up on a few things I needed to complete for school before calling it a day and going to bed. I have school tomorrow so rest was important.
Again, Thanks for being a part of my weekly journey hopefully I can entertain you a little more the following week.
